Flexible hand-rail for escalators.



H. Z. COBB.

FLEXIBLE HAND RAIL FOR ESCALATORS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1916.

Patented June 13, 1916.

WITNESS I INVEN TOR gjzfy Z, fiflfi HENRY Z. COBB, 0F 'WINCHESTER,MASSACHUSETTS, AS SIGNOR TO REVERE RUBBER COMPANY, A CORPORATIONOF-RI'IODE ISLAND.

FLEXIBLE HAND-RAIL FOR ESCALATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted J 11119 13 1916.

Application filed February 8, 1916. Serial No. 77,078."

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY Z. COBB, a

citizen of the United States, residing at" Winchester, county ofMiddlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Flexible Hand- Rails for Escalators, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myin'vention relates to movable guards or coverings, adapted to slidealong the tops of the low partitions or wainscoting, forming the sidesof an escalator and to which passengers may cling to steady themselveswhen lacking confidence or certainty in their footing.

The function and operation of my improved hand rails is similar to thosewell known in the art, the present improvement therein, being in itsconstruction whereby greater durability is attained andthe dangersarising from distortion and breakage eliminated.

The type of escalator rail to which this form of my inventionparticularly applies is that in which the flexible portion to be graspedby the hands of passengers, slides upon a T-shaped track or guide beingpropelled thereon by suitable driving-.- pulleys located at the usualpoints. Heretofore in the manufacture of these flexible hand rails, theyhave been built up by superposing several layers of ordinary rubbercovered duck or fabric until a suitable thickness has been producedafter.

which the thick belt drxjStrip so formed is placed .in a flattenedC-shaped mold and vulcanized into the final form.

The forcing of layers of fabric into the mold has placed the outer pliesunder considerable tension and the inner plies under compression. Therubber being'elastic and more or less plastic even after vulcanization,permits the stresses above mentioned to exert themselves, if notimmediately then in a comparatively short time under the effect of thebending of the rail, thereby resulting in a distortion of the rail and aseparation ofits inwardly curved margins. This allows the hand rail 'todisengage the track or guide with the resulting danger to passengers.

The'object ofmy invention, therefore, is

" to;=..over'come these defects and to improve generally theconstruction of such hand 5 rails. v

1 indicates a common form 'of track orguide mounted on an I-rail orchannel iron 2 as a support. The latter is fastened to the top of theusual wood partition 3.

The numeral 4 indicates this fabric of the improved hand rail, 5 theouter rubber covering therefor and 6 the inturned margins thereof.

The fabric 4: of my improvedhand rail, comprises several layers or pliesof braided strands of cotton or other suitable material. This fabric isbraided in the form of a hollow tube or sleeve in braiding machinessimilar to those employed in braiding fabric coverings for conductinghose. The method of procedure consists in first braiding one tube, thenbraiding over that Y a second tube and so on until the necessary numberof layers have been formed to make the required. number of plies offabric in the finished article.

The yarn may be impregnated with rubber prior to, during or after thebraiding operation, but I prefer to apply this rubber compound to thefabric at a point, the braiding point, as it passes through the braidingmachine by the use of apparatus for this purpose heretofore patented byme, such as in Patent No. 1,110,671, dated September 13, 1914.

The several superimposed layers of braided tubular fabric impregnatedwith rubber compound are then flattened to the form of a belt or strip.In the drawing is shown three superimposed fabric tubes which whenflattened, form a strip consisting of six endless plies or layers.

Before placing the strip in the mold a layer of ordinary fabric or duck7 preferably frictioned or covered with rubber on one side only, isapplied to one surface of the belt and around the edges thereof, as isindicated in Fig. 1. An outer layer of vulcan- I izable rubber stock isalso applied to the outer surface. The rail thus built up is inclosedsection by section in the properly shaped mold and vulcanized in theusual manner.

-When taken from the mold. the rail is in the form shown in Fig. 1, theduck being on the inside to reduce the friction with the track 1 and therubber layer on the outside to give a smooth and pleasing appearance andto eliminate wear on the fabric.

When it is desired to produce a hand rail without substantiallongitudinal stretch, I introduce between the diagonal strands of thebraiding, longitudinal strands 8 which are placed therein during thebraiding operation. These serve in addition to the effect of the duck 7to prevent longitudinal extension of the rail as it-is drawn over itssupport or track by the application of power at one or more points.

A hand rail made as above described, has numerous advantages over thosecommonly in use. By reason of the fact that the meshes of the braidedfabric can be changed in shape without producing substantial tension orcompression, the bending of the margins of the composite strip toconform to the required shape, eliminates any tendency of. the rail toreturn to its original fiat form after being vulcanized, since theinternal stresses are practically eliminated and the shape accuratelyfixed by vulcanizing the strands in their final positions. Greatstrength is also obtained with the use of less yarn owing to the factthat all of the strands are endless while with the use of ordinarysquare woven fabric one half or more of the strands are short,'thetransverse strands giving no longitudinal strength.

The fact that the fabric tubes are inclosed one within the otherproduces a completely unitary structure and eliminates all tendency ofthe plies to separate.

There are other advantages'in my im-' proved hand rail such as economyand speed of manufacture, durability, etc., which will be readilyappreciated by one skilled in the art.

Having described this form of my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hand rail or similar article subject to wideangles oflongitudinal flexing, 'a body portion comprising tubular braided fabricflattened to form a strip, the margins of which are bent at anglesto themain. por-v tion, said fabric being impregnated with an form a strip ofsuitable Width, said strip having inturned edges adapted to form agroove for retaining the strip upon a suitable guide, said fabric beingimpregnated with a vulcanized rubber compound.

,Signed at Chelsea, Mass, this 1st day of Feb., 1916.

. HENRY Z. COBB.

